10 Best-value Luxury Tanzania Safari Lodges & Camps

By Philip Briggs

Tanzania is one of Africa’s most highly rated safari countries. Iconic wildlife destinations here include Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater and the more southerly Nyerere (Selous) National Park. These and other safari hot spots are serviced by a great variety of lodges and camps covering most budgets and styles. Whether you’re looking for an old-school tented camp with maximum bush ambience or a luxurious designer lodge with all the mod cons, you are sure to find it in Tanzania.

The accommodations below are not ranked in a specific quality order.

4,836 Tanzania Safaris

1. Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge (Ngorongoro Crater)

The comfortable Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge offers an unforgettable view over Ngorongoro Crater

East Africa’s most consistently appealing luxury hotel chain, Serena operates quality lodges in several of Tanzania’s main safari destinations. These include Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge, with its stunning setting overlooking the world’s largest extinct volcanic crater. Rooms here are spacious, stylish and centrally heated (a welcome luxury on the chilly crater rim). The food, combining European and Asian cuisines, is also reliably good. Importantly, Ngorongoro Serena is the closest lodge to the main descent road to the crater floor, which makes it a great starting point for early morning game drives.

156 Ngorongoro Serena Tours

2. Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge (Serengeti NP)

The popular Serengeti Serena strikes a good balance between home comforts and an African bush feel

Set in the heart of the world-famous Serengeti National Park, this popular 66-room lodge is another praiseworthy Serena property. It has a genuine bush setting on a well-wooded ridge, but the rooms offer a high level of comfort and come with scene-setting African decor. The lodge comprises several clusters of double-story thatched buildings laid out in a way that resembles a traditional Maasai village. There’s a refreshing infinity pool, a well-run restaurant that’s particularly strong on Indian cuisine, and great big cat viewing (lion, leopard and cheetah) on the nearby Seronera River.

111 Serengeti Serena Tours

3. Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge (Lake Manyara NP)

A large luxury lodge offering great views over Lake Manyara from the Rift Valley escarpment

In East Africa, the name Serena is associated with reliability, and this 67-room lodge perched on the Rift Valley escarpment above Lake Manyara is no exception. A natural stream runs through the large leafy gardens, which are alive with birds and offer great views to Lake Manyara National Park. Rooms are spacious and very comfortable, there’s a well-run restaurant that shifts between buffet and à la carte mode depending on occupancy, and amenities include a swimming pool with a view.

The lodge is also home to Serena Active, which offers a variety of activities including guided community visits, mountain-biking excursions, and night drives and bush dinners in the national park.

86 Lake Manyara Serena Tours

4. Ngorongoro Lion’s Paw Camp (Ngorongoro Crater)

Lion’s Paw, on the inner rim of Ngorongoro, combines elements of a tented camp and a built-up lodge

Ngorongoro Lion’s Paw has one of the most remarkable settings of any lodge in Tanzania. It stands in an enchanted forest of lichen-draped umbrella thorn trees on the eastern rim of Ngorongoro Crater, overlooking flamingo-filled Lake Magadi on the caldera floor. The 15 large suites have canvas walls, wooden floors and tiled roofs, and feel more solid and less exposed than a proper tent.

68 Lion's Paw Camp Tours

5. Four Seasons Safari Lodge (Serengeti NP)

The family-friendly Four Seasons combines a superb Serengeti setting with world-class amenities

When it comes to generous and sophisticated amenities, Four Seasons stands out as possibly the most exceptional safari lodge anywhere in Tanzania. It boasts a wonderful location in Central Serengeti, overlooking a waterhole that attracts plenty of elephants and other wildlife. There is air conditioning throughout, as well as a gym, a spa, an infinity pool, TV in all rooms, and a choice of three restaurants. Overall, this is a great choice for families with children as well as first-time safari-goers who are nervous about sleeping under canvas.

34 Four Seasons Tours

6. Meliá Serengeti Lodge (Serengeti NP)

The supersmart Meliá Serengeti has an isolated location in the Serengeti’s scenic Western Corridor

Rivaling Four Seasons as the most overtly luxurious lodge in the Serengeti, the handsome Meliá stands in the relatively remote Western Corridor close to the Mbalageti River. The decor blends African and colonial influences to stylish effect, and amenities include a swimming pool with a view and a classy spa. In addition to rewarding game drives, outdoor activities here include walking safaris with a Maasai guide and quiet bush picnics.

31 Meliá Serengeti Tours

7. Tarangire Safari Lodge (Tarangire NP)

This family-run tented lodge offers fabulous in-house wildlife viewing along the Tarangire River

The longest-serving lodge in Tarangire National Park remains a firm favorite with all who are fortunate enough to stay there. Owned and managed by the same hands-on family since it was established in 1985, it offers outstanding value for money by Tanzanian standards. The most memorable feature of this lodge is its superb location on a cliff overlooking a stretch of the Tarangire River that attracts plenty of elephants, giraffes and other wildlife. Accommodations are in classic standing tents with en suite hot showers. Other notable features include the colorful birdlife, healthy and hearty home cooking, and a welcoming swimming pool.

18 Tarangire Safari Lodge Tours

8. Lake Natron Camp (Lake Natron)

A small camp offering rustic luxury within view of Lake Natron and Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano

Lake Natron Camp has the wildest and most remote setting of any luxury property on Tanzania’s legendary Northern safari circuit. It stands close to the southern shore of the extremely salty Lake Natron, in a hot, arid part of the Rift Valley below the active volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai. The 10 luxurious safari tents are shaded by camouflaged netting that has the dual purpose of providing shade and minimizing the visual impact on this starkly scenic landscape.

Attractions include birding on Lake Natron (the main breeding site for East Africa’s flamingos), swimming in a stream that flows into the lake, and visiting some of the oldest human footprints on Earth.

Lake Natron Camp Tours

9. Rufiji River Camp (Nyerere (Selous) NP)

A classic tented camp in a perfect position on the wildlife-rich banks of the wild Rufiji River

Rufiji River Camp is one of the longest-serving, most popular and best-priced luxury properties situated inside Tanzania’s largest national park. As its name suggests, it stands on the elevated north bank of the Rufiji River, a wide waterway that flows all year and supports dense populations of hippos, crocs and other wildlife.

Accommodations are in comfortable safari tents shaded by thatched roofs. All units have private balconies facing the river and suites also have a private plunge pool. There’s a fun treehouse-like double-story dining area and swimming pool, while expertly guided activities include boat trips and walking safaris as well as game drives.

Rufiji River Camp Tours

10. Jabali Ridge (Ruaha NP)

Excellent wildlife viewing and to-die-for cuisine are hallmarks of this stylish hilltop boutique lodge

Jabali Ridge ranks as the most stylish lodge in off-the-beaten-track Ruaha National Park, Tanzania’s second-largest park. It comprises eight luxurious semi-open cottages and a network of connecting wooden walkways built into a characterful hilltop outcrop of huge granite boulders. The lodge offers great views across the baobab-studded plains of Ruaha to the Mwagusi River, a wide, sandy seasonal waterway that stands at the heart of the park’s best wildlife-viewing circuit. Jabali Ridge prides itself on its exceptional cuisine and rewarding guided walking safaris and night drives.

Jabali Ridge Tours